Baseball: Lucas Giolito hurts elbow, might be lost for season

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Standout senior pitcher Lucas Giolito of Studio City Harvard-Westlake, the No. 1 high school pitching prospect in the nation, sprained his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in the seventh inning on Tuesday and will be sidelined between six to 10 weeks, Coach Matt LaCour said Wednesday.

‘He’s probably done for our season,’ LaCour said.

Giolito was pulled with one out in the seventh inning of a game against Alemany. LaCour told a reporter at the time that Giolito had injured his groin, but on Wednesday, he said he was trying to protect Giolito until information could be determined about the extent of his elbow injury.

‘It’s not torn up to where he needs surgery,’ LaCour said.

Giolito is a 6-foot-6 right-hander who signed with UCLA. He was clocked last week throwing two pitches at 100 mph. He had an MRI done on Wednesday, LaCour said.

‘He’s crushed. His teammates are crushed,’ LaCour said. ‘His coaches are crushed, and we’re going to have to spend the next two days getting back on track.’

Giolito’s father, Rick, said his son has ‘no pain whatsoever.’

‘He felt a grab on his last pitch,’ he said. ‘He took himself out.’

Rick Giolito said his son will be shut down from throwing for at least a month while going through rehabilitation. As for whether he’ll pitch before the June draft, Rick Giolito said, ‘We’ll see what happens.’

-- Eric Sondheimer